To Conquer Fear
by Potter4me
Summary: Heavily injured by a drugged mob of civilians, Jason has to face not only his fears, but his tense relationship with the so called "emotionless" Batman.


**Hello people reading these words I have typed :)**

**So this story is based off a comic I read about from the Legends mini-series. I only was able to read snip bits from parts of the comic, but it involved a young Jason Robin being beaten not by a villain, but by an angry mob of civilians. Not knowing much about it and unable to find anymore of it to read, I decided to write my own version with a different villain. If any of you have heard about this comic before you should totally message me. I'd simply LOVE to hear from you.**

**Special thanks to BlazingRagnarok for betaing me with his far superior grammatical skills *bow***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice...Nor do I own Batman...nor do I own Jason Todd...but I do own hands...thus I shall use them to write...about what I can only dream of possessing**

"Jason, I'm sorry…"

"Bruce, you don't have to apologize."

"But if I had just…"

"You're the goddamn emotionless Batman, Bruce. You're not supposed to apologize for anything. Besides, it was my own damn fault anyway."

"But, just look at you…"

"Yah, so I might be out of commission for a little while…"

"Might be?"

"Don't rub it in. Gosh I must be the worst partner ever."

"That's not true"

"Oh come on, I bet Dick never messed up this bad."

"Well…"

"Save it, he was a way better partner than me and you know it."

"You just have different skill sets."

"Bruce…"

"You have other talents he doesn't."

"Bruce…"

"OK, so you need a little more training."

"A little?"

"So, a lot more training. But that comes with time. Right now you just need to focus on getting better."

"I'm focusing as hard as I can."

"Jason…what happened...I…"

"Not this again."

"I thought I was going to lose you!"

"Bruce…"

_Flashback line_

Stealthily, Jason snuck around the mall, hiding himself behind pillars and blending into the shadows. The mall seemed deserted, definitely not a good sign. What kind of mall was empty on a Saturday? No, people must be here, but where? Maybe _he_ already had them. They could be in trouble. Jason quickened his pace.

Batman had been tipped off that none other than the Scarecrow himself would be attacking the Gotham Mall sometime that day. Who had tipped him off, Jason had no clue, but the bat had his sources. He couldn't stop himself from shaking slightly in his boots. Not from fear, but from excitement. This was the first major villain case Jason was allowed on since his inception as Robin a year ago. He really didn't want to mess this up. He had to prove to Bruce he was a good replacement. He had to prove he was a good Robin.

Looking around probably his hundredth pillar, Jason finally found what he'd been looking for. From his vantage point on the second story, he was able to see down into the center of the mall's first floor. Occupied in that one center area was what Jason deduced to be the mall's entire population, from cart vendors to weekend shoppers. They were all just standing around with blank, expressionless faces, as if they all decided to mentally shut down at the same time in the same place. Yeah, nothing odd about that at all.

Scanning the area more intently, Jason noticed there was one man at the edge of the group that seemed to be wearing what looked like a poorly sewn together burlap sack on his head. Whelp, he'd found Scarecrow. That hadn't been hard. Now what was he doing with a floor full of innocent mall goers? They didn't seem hurt, just…empty. Toxins were Scarecrow's specialty, and whatever he put in those people couldn't be anything good. Jason knew he'd have to discover what it was and fast. That meant having a little chat with his pal Scarecrow.

"Robin to Batman, I've discovered both the enemy and the civilians. I'm about to engage," Jason whispered into his communicator.

"Affirmative Robin. I've tracked your coordinates and I'm on my way. But, Robin?"

"Yes."

"Be careful."

Jason paused for a moment. Had Batman just shown…emotions? But Jason waved if off quickly. He couldn't have, he probably just wanted Jason to be careful as to avoid civilian casualties. "Affirmative, Batman." With that, Jason slipped out from behind the pillar, flipped over the railing, and landed on the first floor below with barely a sound. Sure it wasn't Dick Grayson graceful, but Jason had to admit it was still pretty damn slick.

Jason then decided he had to switch out of stealth mode. If he was going to figure out what kind of toxin Scarecrow used to poison the people, he'd need to confront the madman directly. So Robin did what Robins do best, and heckled the villain, yelling, "Yo Straw Man, I heard you were throwing a party, but I didn't known it'd be this dead. Didn't your mom ever tell you drugs were not the way to make friends? Or is she the one who put that bag over your head?"

"Boy Wonder," Scarecrow drawled, stepping into view in the center of the floor. "But that must mean the Bat is hiding somewhere around here." Paranoid, Scarecrow whipped his head around to scan the mall, as if afraid the big bad bat was going to jump at him at any moment.

"Nope, just me," Jason lied. "Batman said he didn't want to waste effort on a little scaredy cat like you."

"Oh he did, did he?" Scarecrow said, raising an eyebrow. At least, Jason imagined he did. The mask made it kind of hard to tell.

Actually, this was the first time Jason ever saw Scarecrow up close and personal before. He'd seen pictures of him from past crimes in Bruce's files, but that was different. Now that he was face to face with the masked villain he realized something. Scarecrow wasn't scary in the slightest! Actually he looked quite silly wear an old ripped sack on his head that clashed horrible with the suit he wore below it. He couldn't help but chuckle a little at the absurdity of this so called "major villain."

"What's so funny boy? You afraid?"

"Not in your dreams crow man. I've see way scarier villains then you. Villains who put a little more effort into their outfit, mind you. I mean come on, a bag on your head. Really? It's more like a five year old's Halloween costume."

"Oh really?" Scarecrow said, looking somewhat amused, or so Jason imagined. "Boy, you don't know the definition of fear. It consumes the mind and controls the senses. It's all powerful and will bend you to its every will. The only reason you don't feel it right now is because I haven't shown you it yet. You see, I am the master of fear. Normally I would give you a little taste of my gas and show you fear directly, but I've decided to experiment with fear a different way today. Today's test theme, mass hysteria. Just look around you."

That's when Jason remembered the empty, expressionless faces surrounding him, only, now they were neither empty nor expressionless. Their every features were filled with vile hatred. Their movements were angry, their faces contorted with rage. And they were all glaring directly at him.

"What did you do to them?" Jason demanded, trying to back slowly away from the bloodthirsty masses.

"Hear that? Is that fear I detect in your voice, Boy Wonder? Beautiful, sweet fear. I simply used this mall's generous supply of subjects to test my new drug. It muddles with the brain's perception of fear. Normally the citizens of Gotham live in fear and hatred of villains and idolize their so-called 'heroes.' But I wondered, what if that was switched? What if instead, they began fearing their saviors and idolizing the sinners."

By now, the angry mob of people had inched closer and closer to where Robin stood paralyzed. There was no way out. They had him surrounded.

"You came just in time to take part in my new experiment, little hero. You know what happens when people are afraid? They strike out, hoping to destroy their fear with force. Are you feeling the fear now little birdie? Now that you are trapped in my cage. Welcome. Welcome to hell."

With those final words, the mob attacked. Biting, scratching, hitting, they used any and all means necessary to beat down their new found fear, leaving Jason powerless to fight back against a mob of technically innocent civilians.

At first he was afraid, then all he could feel was pain, then finally the only thing he experienced was darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED

**So where was Batman during all of this? I'm sorry he's sworn me to secrecy for now. You'll have to find out in the next chapter ;)**

**Reviews will be much loved and cuddled. I cherish them all and thank anyone gracious enough to drop one by little old me XD**


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